Brainpop Smoking and Asthma Videos:

Asthma :

Asthma is a pretty common condition of the lungs. People with asthma have trouble breathing and sometimes they can experience coughing, shortness of breath, and tightness of the chest. When people breathe air is sucked into a series of narrower and narrower pathways that guide air into hundreds of millions of tiny air sacs called alveoli. In these sacs blood is replenished with oxygen and carbon dioxide is expelled. Sometimes the air isn't as fresh or clean, it can be filled with pollution, smoke, molds, pollen, pet dandruff, dust particles and etc. For people with asthma these tiny particles can trigger what's called an asthma attack. Things like exercise, food allergies, weather, and even strong emotions can also trigger an asthma attack sometimes. During asthma attacks the lung airways get irritated. When the cells in the lining of the airways detect a trigger like dust they overreact. They release chemicals which increase mucus production and cause the airways to swell. This causes the airway to narrow and makes it harder to breath. People with asthma should always have their inhaler so the medicine in it can reduce swelling in the airways and make it easier to breath. Doctors are really good at treating/ diagnosing asthma and with proper care people with asthma can do just about anything.

Smoking :

Smoking gives you bad breath, makes you cough and can lead to deadly illnesses like emphysema, lung cancer and heart disease. Cigarettes are made of a plant called tobacco and hundreds of chemicals including nicotine, tar, ammonia, and para-methoxybenzaldehyde. Lungs are supposed to take oxygen and distribute it to the rest of your body; by inhaling smoke instead of air it damages the cells in your lungs. The tar in cigarettes literally coats your lungs turning them black over time. It becomes hard to breath and it's more difficult for your lungs to distribute oxygen. Overtime some of these damaged lung cells can become cancerous. In fact smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical found in cigarettes which narrows your blood vessels and putts added strain on your heart causing all sorts of coronary problems. Nicotine is so addictive that it's really hard to stop smoking once you start. It's a drug and anyone who starts smoking is at high risk of not being able to stop.